1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door holding apparatus for a refrigerator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As prior art of this type of door holding apparatus for a refrigerator, a Japanese laid open patent application No. Heisei 4-288470 and another Japanese laid open patent application No. Heisei 4-136679 were disclosed.
Particularly, in the Japanese laid open patent application No. Heisei 4-288470 disclosing the door apparatus of a refrigerator as illustrated herein in detail in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, an adiabatic (refrigeration) cabinet 11 comprises an outerwall 12 of steel plate and an innerwall 13 of plastic material with insulation material stuffed therebetween.
At the upper portion of the adiabatic cabinet 11, there is formed a refrigerating chamber 15, and first and second opening/shutting type doors 16 and 17 are rotatably disposed by respective hinges 18 at left and right sides of an opening 15a of the refrigerating chamber 15.
Magnetic gaskets 19 are respectively disposed on fringe areas of an inner periphery of each of the first and second doors 16 and 17.
Support members 20 and 21 are respectively attached to upper and lower areas around inner tip areas of the free i.e., unhinged, side of the first door 16 by respective guide pins 22 as illustrated in FIG. 11, and a compartment member 23 is rotatably supported by the support members 20 and 21 by means of a pin 24 as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10.
The compartment member 23 takes a shape of a pillar extending from an upper end to a lower end of the opening 15a, and a guide groove 25 of circular arc shape with one end opened is formed on both upper and lower ends of the compartment member 23, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10.
Meanwhile, a position determination unit , or stop projection, 27 is protrudingly and integrally formed on the lower support member 21 as illustrated in FIG. 10, and under a state where the first door 16 is closed, the position determination unit 27 contacts a side 23a of the compartment member 23, thereby maintaining a front 23b of the compartment member 23 to be approximately on a line with a front line of the opening 15a.
The support member 21 is disposed with a torsion coil spring 28 at the lower area thereof, and the torsion coil spring 28 the compartment member 23 to a position shown in broken lines in FIG. 9.
In a conventional refrigerator thus constructed with a pair of doors, lower and upper guide pins 29 attached to the cabinet II invade into a the lower and upper guide grooves 25 under a state where the first and second doors 16 and 17 are closed, as illustrated in FIG. 9, causing the compartment member 23 to be pivoted to one side.
Under these circumstances, the respective magnetic gaskets of the first and second doors 16 and 17 are drawn into an inner periphery of the opening 15a and the front 23b of the compartment member 23.
Under the above state, when the first door 16 on the left is rotatably moved in an arrow direction A in order to open the first door 16, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, the compartment member 23 is rotatably moved in the arrow direction B around a guide pin 22, thereby resulting in the guide pin 29 sliding relatively along the guide groove 25.
According to the rotative movement of the compartment member 23 in toward the arrow direction B, respective magnetic gaskets 19 are separated from the front 23b of the compartment member 23.
When the first door 16 is rotatably moved toward a dotted line as illustrated in FIG. 9, a state happens where the guide pin 29 is pulled out of the guide groove 25, and at the same time, a state arises where the compartment member 23 is rotatably moved 90 degrees in a direction opposite that in which the first door is opened.
When the opened first door 16 is to be closed, the first door 16 is rotatably moved oppositely from the arrow direction A, thereby resulting in an open end of the guide groove 25 to be forced against the guide pin 29 which thereafter slides along the guide groove 25.
Accordingly, the compartment member 23 is rotatably moved in an opposite direction from the arrow indication B to thereby be in an operational state so that the compartment member comes to be closed as illustrated in FIG. 9 in a continuous line.
Meanwhile, when the second door 17 is to be opened or closed while the first door 16 is closed, the compartment member 23 maintains the operational state, and the magnetic gasket 19 of the second door 17 is separated from the front 23b of the compartment member 23.
The conventional door apparatus thus described is supposed to be constructed in such way that the front 23b of the compartment member 23 maintains a parallel line with a front 15b of the opening 15a while the first door 16 is closed in order to keep the refrigerating chamber from being invaded by outside air. However the front 23b of the compartment member 23 might not coinside with the front line of the opening 15a due to inaccuracy of dimensions of each component, a variance of attached positions and the like, whereby the member could protrude forward to be pushed inwardly into an interior of the chamber, causing a case where the same is attached in a slanted position, consequently, the inside of the refrigerator would not be kept from being exposed to the outside air. Also, refrigerating efficiency deteriorates and power consumption is increased.